Chapter 1229: The Twin Stabilized
Earth Dog was stunned for a moment. The many "Earth-levels" around him hurriedly backed away a few steps, keeping a safe distance from him.
"I really have to laugh..." Earth Dog said angrily. "Am I the only one who thinks this tactic is low?"
Earth Rat also smiled and looked at the other "Zodiacs". Of course this tactic was low, but unfortunately all's fair in war.
Originally, all the "Zodiacs" in front seemed to be gathered at the door, surrounding the people inside the house, but now they suspected Earth Dog beside them was a spy, and instead they might be flanked.
In the ensuing battle, they could only look forward and backward, unable to go all out.
With just one sentence, Earth Rat tore a gap in the encirclement.
But he was clearly not satisfied, after all, Earth Dog had left far too many openings.
"Boss... now you say 'tactic is low'..." Earth Rat pretended to look troubled as he spoke. "That's not what you said when you brought us into your room..."
"What do you mean my room..." Earth Dog habitually wanted to retort, but suddenly remembered that this was indeed his own room. "So what if it is my room?"
"Forget it..." Earth Rat sighed. "Strike when you think it's appropriate. I'll first gain an advantage for you."
With that, he kicked out at a tall Earth Pig in front of him, but Earth Pig easily blocked it.
Before Earth Dog could make any other move, the several "Zodiacs" in front had fallen into a melee. Calling it a "melee", it looked more like four "Earth-levels" surrounding Earth Rat and attacking him.
In such a situation, Earth Rat could only panic and defend everywhere, barely counterattacking a few times in between, and soon his face was bruised.
Just as Chu Tianqiu had predicted from the start, Earth Rat was not good at fighting. With similarly enhanced bodies, his combat power among the "Earth-levels" should be below average.
But fortunately, none of the "Zodiacs" carried weapons; using only their hands and feet could only injure Earth Rat, not kill him in a short time.
Chu Tianqiu then looked at the "Human-levels" behind the "Earth-levels". At this moment, they were all on guard against Earth Dog.
It seemed that the original tactic of these "Human-levels" was to take advantage of their teachers holding back Earth Rat, then charge into the house to catch people. But now, due to Earth Dog's presence from an unknown faction, the "Human-levels" could only watch him, wary of him attacking their teachers.
Earth Dog felt extremely uncomfortable under the gaze of these "Human-levels".
But the awkward part of the problem was that he couldn't scold these people, otherwise he would seem even more like their enemy.
He thought for a while and felt that he could only go and help besiege Earth Rat; otherwise, the label of "rebel" would be firmly stuck on his head and impossible to remove.
Chu Tianqiu squinted, keeping his eyes on Earth Dog, taking in every move he made, then slowly revealed a smile.
Earth Dog took a deep breath and stepped forward, ready to find an angle to attack that annoying big rat, when Chu Tianqiu suddenly spoke up.
"Hey, 'Zodiacs', look at me!"
Chu Tianqiu shouted loudly. All the "Zodiacs" attacking Earth Rat paused and looked up at him, only to find that the man made no move at all; after speaking, he just stood quietly.
Since he was just standing quietly, why did he suddenly speak to distract everyone's attention?
This huge flaw and sense of incongruity left many "Zodiacs" puzzled.
Some smart "Zodiac" quickly realized something: this man in front must be trying to attract their attention to facilitate someone else sneaking up from behind.
Thinking of this, everyone quickly turned around, and indeed found Earth Dog already very close.
"What are you doing?!" the "Zodiacs" asked warily.
"Huh?" Earth Dog didn't expect to be suddenly caught off guard. He quickly explained with an awkward smile, "No... damn, I really have to laugh. I came to help."
"Help?"
The "Zodiacs" were still somewhat confused, after all, the timing of that distraction was very delicate.
"If you wanted to help, why didn't you help from the start?" asked a very thin Earth Tiger. "Why are you suddenly coming over now?"
"I-I didn't react at first..." Earth Dog said. "No, if you really don't believe me, forget it. Call it a good deed unrewarded. I can't be bothered to argue with you."
Earth Dog then tried to slip away, but the other "Zodiacs" clearly didn't want to let him go. A huge crisis of trust had already emerged.
After all, Earth Dog was a stranger to them. It's hard for ordinary people to build trust in a stranger in a short time, but they can instantly fall into suspicion of a stranger.
Earth Rat saw this scene, smiled and shook his head, then reached up to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.
He looked back at Chu Tianqiu, and couldn't help thinking—how many brains does a guy like Earth Dog have to fight these people?
"Boss... thanks for the help. If you die, I'll burn more paper money than anyone else."
Chu Tianqiu shook his head and reached out to support Earth Rat's arm, asking with a smile, "Still talking tough? Didn't anyone hit your mouth just now?"
Earth Rat shrugged his shoulders: "You don't know me. Even if I'm beaten down, I'll compliment my opponent with 'mighty as a tiger' before dying."
After hearing this, Chu Tianqiu turned around again to check on Qian Wu and the other two.
Not to mention how Qiao Jiajin and Zhang Shan were connected by the "Twin Flower", just looking at Qian Wu gave a bad feeling.
Whether it was because he was overusing the "Echo", or these noisy "Zodiacs" were disturbing his conviction, his face was pale, his eyes bloodshot, and his eye sockets deeply sunken, yet he still focused intently on grabbing the arms of the two people, not even bothering to wipe the cold sweat on his face.
It looked like there were only two outcomes: either the "Twin Flower" was about to succeed, or it was on the verge of failure.
Earth Dog and the "Zodiacs" at the door had been explaining feebly for a while, and they finally relented, letting Earth Dog stand far to the side. He didn't need to help nor cause trouble; if he approached again, they would definitely treat him as a rebel.
Earth Dog agreed, and the crowd reorganized their formation and came to the door. Chu Tianqiu turned his head to check on Earth Rat's condition, feeling that if he continued fighting one against four, he would be beaten to death. He could only grip the eyeball in his hand and signal Earth Rat to fall back and rest.
Earth Rat had no choice but to slowly retreat to the side. The chaotic attacks from those people had already made it hard to tell where they had hit, only feeling intense pain in his ribs.
Chu Tianqiu stepped forward, facing four "Earth-levels", and took a deep breath.
He knew he wasn't good at fighting either; in this situation, he could only delay time as much as possible.
But just as he raised the eyeball to his mouth, Qian Wu's voice came from not far away.
"No need." Qian Wu said weakly. "The 'Twin' has stabilized..."